Track rail grinding machine



June 1939. w. HOBSON ET AL TRACK RAIL GRINDING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Oct. 3, 1936 June 27, 1939. w. HOBSON ET AL TRACK RAIL GRINDING MACHINE Original Filed Oct. 3, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a AYH/J/ v 4. 4 a M 2 Li. I G 7 J m H m 4 Patented June 27, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TRACK RAIL GRINDING MACHINE Walter Hobson, Philadelphia, Pa., and Homer H. Woodrow, Milford, Del.

5 Claims.

This application is a division of our application Serial No. 103,811 filed October 3, 1936.

One object of the present invention is to provide a track rail grinding machine of the type in which there is a motor driven grinding wheel of which the face confronts the rail head, and in which there are provided simple, reliable and efficient means for changing the inclination of the axis of the grinding wheel crosswise of the rail to shape the head of the rail as desired.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description at the end of which the invention will be claimed.

The invention comprises the improvements to be presently described and finally claimed.

In the following description reference will be made to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational View of a track rail grinding machine embodying features of the invention.

Fig. 2 is an elevational View looking lengthwise of the car and with parts removed and showing that the grinding Wheel is tilted constantly or intermittently,

Fig. 3 is a detail central sectional view of Fig. 2 drawn to a reduced scale with parts shown which are;i omitted from Fig. 1 for the sake of clearness an Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 1 and showing parts with which members 33-34 of Figure 1 cooperate.

Referringto the drawings and. more particularly to Fig. 1, I indicates a railway car shown as provided with a motor 2 having gearing 3 by which it drives the traction wheels 4 of the car on the rails of the track indicated at 5. 1 indicates handbrake mechanism arranged for operation on the carrying wheels 8 of the car. The described construction may be greatly modified and it is perhaps accomplished by pretty much any kind of a car adapted to travel slowly along the track of which the rail heads are to be ground or dressed particularly for the removal of undulations ranging in the direction of the length of the rail. 9 are motor driven grinding wheels of which the work faces confront the rail heads. The grinding units include those grinding wheels and will now be described.

I0 and II are nested yokes or frames mounted on the car and of Which the inner one It! is slidable in'respect to the outer one II. The frame H is immovably fastened to the element 1 in respect to vertical movements.

The motor frame I4, or more accurately an extension 25 thereof carries a train of intermeshing duplicate gear wheels 31, 38 and 39, Fig. 2, and the gear wheels 31 and 39 carry pinions 4|] and 4!. The pinions 40 and 4| run on curved racks 42 and 43 struck from a common center indicated at b, and fixed in respect to the yokes l0 and II and therefore held stationary. The toothed wheel 38 is turnable in respect to a stud 44 mounted on the extension 25 and one end of the connecting rod 45 is connected to the stud 44. The other end of the connecting rod is connected to a clampable pivot pin 45 mounted in a radial slot 46, in a power driven disc 41 revolvable about an axis fixed in the frame I. Disc 4! may be driven in any convenient way as by a motor directly connected to-it or from motor 2 by means of gears, belts or chains. There are two such mechanisms one at each leg of the yoke ll. It may be remarked that Fig. 2 is a view looking towards the right in Fig. 3 with all the stationary parts to the left of the racks 42 and 43 removed.

Assuming that the disc 41 is in rotation the connecting rod shifts the motor frame I4 and extension 25 back and forth from left to right and right to left in Fig. 2, and the pinions 40 and. 4| ride on the fixed curved or arcuate racks 42 and 43, thus the axis of the grinding wheel 9 indicated by dash and dot lines occupies the positions of those lines and the face of the grinding wheel 9 is effective in the curved dash and dot line a--a 30 dressing the head of the rail 5 to a symmetrical curved surface. The throw of the connecting rod 45 and therefore the amplitude of oscillation of the axis of the grinding wheel can be adjusted by variously positioning the clampable pin 45 in the slot 46. 16 indicates, collectively, a spring pressed screw and adjusting nuts, interposed between the yokes II] and l I for cushioning the motor frame vertically. It may be remarked that with the use of a spring there is a preloading of 'the grinder unit over and above the dead weight pressure of the parts pressing the grinding wheel to the rail. This pre-loading results in the removal of the wave crests that occur in longitudinal direction in used rails, and in the valleys of the wave the pressure of the spring lessens, so that a straight level profile is produced.

The screw I1 is provided with a hand wheel I8 for turning it in a bearing in the cross piece or head IQ of the yoke or frame I0 and in this bearing the screw is held against endwise motion. This construction provides a spring cushion for taking the upward thrust of the screw and parts which it carries. The screw and parts carried by it can be adjusted vertically by means of the collars 22 and 23, and after the adjustment is made the collars are held against turning and for this purpose pins 24 are shown.

Elements a of the frame of the car carry ways b which range crosswise of the car. In these ways feet of the outer yoke l I slide and the ways and feet serve to maintain the yokes in upright position. The feet 0 of the yoke ll include a nut, and crosswise ranging screws 33 engage these nuts (1 and when turned serve to shift the yokes crosswise of the car. The screws 33 are geared together at one end by sprocket wheels and a sprocket chain 34, Fig. 1.

In use the grinding wheel 9 may be vertically adjusted properly with respect to the rail 5 by manipulation of the hand wheel [8. The upward thrust on the face of the grinding wheel 9 by lengthwise undulations in the rail is cushioned by the spring combination I6. It will, of course, be understood that the car travels slowly along the rails and that these lengthwise undulations are dressed or ground.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates that modifications may be made in details of construction and arrangement and in matters of mere form hence the invention is not limited otherwise than the prior art and the appended claims may require.

We claim:

1. For a track rail grinding machine mounted on a railway car and having motor driven grinding wheels of which the faces confront the rail heads, units each comprising, in combination, upright yoke frame slidable in respect to each other and of which one is relatively fixed in respect to the car, a motor frame rockably carried by the inner yoke frame, and power driven means for continuously rocking the motor frame in respect to the inner frame.

2. In a track rail grinding machine, in combination, a car, a motor driven grinding wheel having its face arranged in confronting relation to a rail of the track, a frame for the spindle of the grinding wheel, curved racks fixed in respect to the car and ranging crosswise thereof and struck from a center located beneath the rail, pinions revolubly mounted on the frame and meshing with said racks to afford the face of the grinding wheel rocking motion across the rail head and about said center, a train of gears of which two are fast to said pinions and of which the intermediate gear wheel is free for rotation and is mounted on the frame, and power driven mechanism for reciprocating the frame by means of said gears and pinions.

3. In a track rail grinding machine a car, an element mounted on the car for adjustment vertically and transversely of the car, arcuate racks struck from a center located beneath the track and fixed to said element, a motor frame having revoluble pinions meshing with said racks and disposed in a radial line in respect to said center and by which the frame is suspended for rocking motion in respect to said center, a grinding wheel carried by the spindle of the motor and having its face confronting the track, and means for reciprocating the motor frame by means of said pin- 1ons.

4. In a track rail grinding car, concentric arouate racks struck from a center located below the level of the rails, a motor driven grinding wheel of which the face confronts the rail heads and which is mounted on the end of the motor spindle, pinions turnably mounted on the motor frame and adapted to run on said racks to suspend the spindle for oscillation about said center, a support for the racks, means for adjusting the support to position the axis of the spindle when in vertical position into line with the hub of a rail, a train of intermeshing gears mounted for rotation on said motor frame and of which two are fast to said pinions, and a pitman-rod revolubly connected with the intermediate gear wheel of the train whereby rotation of the intermediate gear causes oscillation of the others of said intermeshing gears and said pinions on said racks, thereby causing said grinding wheel to oscillate relative to the rail and cut the desired contour.

5. In a track rail grinding car, concentric arcuate racks struck from a center located below the level of the rails, a motor driven grinding wheel of which the face confronts the rail heads and which is mounted on the end of the motor spindle, a train of three intermeshing gear wheels turnably mounted on the frame in a radial line in respect to said center and of which the intermediate one is an idler and the outside ones are provided with pinions and which run on said racks, means for adjusting the racks to position the axis of the spindle and line of gear wheels and the web of a rail in radial alignment with respect to said center, and means for oscillating said frame by means of said gear wheels and pinions.

WALTER HOBSON. HOMER H. WOODROW. 

